We are writing on behalf of the Asia for Animals coalition, representing international organisations with extensive knowledge of animal welfare and conservation issues, including those pertaining to the captive marine mammal industry. We express our deep concerns regarding the poor living conditions for the animals currently being housed at the recently-opened “Zhengjia Polar Ocean World” facility in Guangzhou.

Dead grouper in foreground; in background, a whale shark, the world’s largest fish growing up to 40 feet long

News reports and photographs that have been widely disseminated on various social media networks document the wholly unacceptable conditions under which the animals are being kept, resulting in immense animal suffering. Observations show walrus calves and beluga whales in small tanks swimming around in circles, and arctic wolves and foxes pacing, all signs of stereotypic behaviours, demonstrating psychological distress. Dead groupers were also observed in one of the tanks.

We also note that close contact photo opportunities are available for members of the public with the beluga whales, posing not only severe concerns for animal welfare but also to public safety. Some diseases that are found in terrestrial and marine wildlife can be transferred to humans and vice versa. In addition, some species, including all cetaceans, can inflict serious injuries on trainers, so inexperienced tourists are at even more risk. Trainers have been injured and some killed by captive orcas; captive dolphins and belugas, as well as pinnipeds, have also seriously injured trainers and tourists.

We believe it is only justifiable to keep animals in captivity if both their physical and behavioural needs can be provided for. These needs are extremely complex for the species exhibited at the Zhengjia Polar Ocean World, and it is evident that these needs are not being met due to the poor quality of the facilities.

The confined space provided for the 6 beluga whales does not allow them to perform many of their natural behaviors. They cannot swim as they would naturally in the wild, dive, hunt, and they would rarely need to use their echolocation as the sound waves produced cannot reach far. When individuals have conflicts among themselves, they have nowhere to avoid each other. All these aspects are likely to create stress which can lead to depression, aggression, disease and possible death.

Confining cetacean species in captivity presents serious welfare issues. The vast majority of the cetaceans held in captivity in China have been captured from the wild, using invasive, highly stressful and potentially lethal methods. Purchasing wild caught cetaceans is likely to have a detrimental impact on the wild population. The beluga whales are likely to have been taken from Russian waters where beluga populations are declining and the captures are not sustainable.

During capture, family and group members are separated from each other, and mortality rates for some cetacean species increase six-fold during and immediately after capture or transport [1]. Studies are rarely conducted to ascertain the impact on those animals left behind.

Once removed from their natural environment, whales are transported to small enclosures that are only a fraction of the size of their natural home range, and are lacking their family members and social groups, causing immense distress to these highly social and intelligent animals.

Whales and dolphins are wide-ranging, social animals and captivity cannot provide them with the social, visual and auditory stimuli of their natural environment. They must adapt to an artificial diet, strange noises, and the unnatural proximity of people and other captive animals. Many will suffer from the stress of confinement, which often results in aggression and other behavioural abnormalities, reduced calving success, stomach ulcers, and reduced immune response. These in turn result in poor quality of life, reduced life expectancy and higher infant mortality than what the animals would experience in the wild.

Decades of research on cetaceans has revealed that their brains are large, complex and capable of sophisticated thought. Cetaceans have demonstrated culture [2], tool-use [3], individuality [4], consciousness, and self-awareness [5].

多年研究表明，鲸类动物脑部体积较大、构造复杂，具有复杂的思维能力。鲸类也具备文化、使用工具的能力、具有个体差异、具有感知力和自我意识。

Cetacean performances and close contact opportunities do little to educate the public on issues of natural behaviours, ecology, or conservation status, and there is little objective evidence to indicate that public displays contribute to raising public knowledge of marine mammals and their habitats.

Rather, observing cetaceans perform tricks has the potential to desensitize the observer to the suffering of cetaceans in captivity and does little to encourage the compassion and empathy necessary to invoke actions to protect wild cetaceans from exploitation. The welfare concerns associated with the removal of cetaceans from the wild and their confinement to small tanks or pools cannot be justified on the basis of potential educational benefits to the general public. Indeed, in viewing these animals at Zhengjia Polar Ocean World, the general public would learn that removing animals from their natural habitat for the entertainment of humans is acceptable, and that animals displaying clear signs of distress are ‘normal’ behaviours. This is not a message China’s public, particularly its children, should be learning when visiting one of your facilities.

Polar bears, arctic wolves and foxes are also species that do not adapt well to captivity, often exhibiting stereotypic behaviours. Captivity restricts their natural foraging behaviour and this is replaced by the exhibition of locomotory stereotypies such as repetitive pacing. In many cases this pacing becomes more prominent during times when the animal is expecting to receive food, and researchers have documented captive polar bears pacing more on days when they have not received any food. These animals may also pace in an attempt to escape from their current situation as this is causing them a degree of stress.

The stereotypies observed in the polar bear, wolves and foxes at your facility are likely to have developed out of stress and deprivation caused by the captive situation, and prolonged periods of stress are likely to cause both physiological and psychological problems for these individuals.

Walruses live in large herds in the wild, and the calves may stay with their mothers until they are 5-6 years old. The staffs have informed members of our team that these calves are just 2 years old, yet they have been separated from their mothers at this young age and are now confined within a space which allows them very little opportunity to express their natural behaviours.

Shopping malls are not appropriate locations for wildlife species to be exhibited, in doing so it delivers a message that these animals are simply another commodity to buy and consume, rather than important natural elements of ecosystems that need our protection.

We see from the many social media posts about this facility that the public is clearly concerned about the animals’ welfare. We thereby urge you to take immediate steps to improve the welfare of the animals, and in the interest of both the health and welfare of the animals and the public, we request an immediate end to any close contact activities.

We urge Haichang to stop buying wild caught cetaceans, to stop breeding captive cetaceans, and to evaluate the existing captive cetaceans to see if any can be reintroduced to the ocean.

我们恳请海昌集团停止购买野捕鲸豚、停止繁育圈养鲸豚，评估已有圈养鲸豚的状况，确定是否有野化放归的可能。

We thank you for your consideration of our recommendations and urge you to reconsider the exhibition of marine and arctic wildlife in this and future shopping malls. In doing so you will be demonstrating your commitment to ensuring improved living conditions and better welfare standards for all captive wild animals within China.

About Author

The Asia For Animals (AfA) Coalition is composed of 16 well-known and respected animal welfare organisations that have a shared focus on improving the welfare of animals in Asia. We are committed to providing support to organisations to help with their campaigns to tackle some of the most pressing animal welfare concerns in the region. Click to see author's profile.

Please Support Our Work

Disclaimer

As a matter of policy, publication of content on the Animal People Forum does not imply that Animal People, Inc. agrees with or endorses the ideas expressed within. As a 501(c)3 charity, we specifically do not endorse political parties or candidates. All opinions should be taken solely as the author’s own unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Animal People, Inc. holds the perpetual non-exclusive right to distribute all content submitted to the Animal People Forum, in whole or in part, with proper attribution, in any electronic, print, or other medium currently existing or yet to be invented. All other applicable rights remain those of the content creators. Publication of content does not imply that Animal People, Inc. endorses the ideas expressed within.

Animal People does not knowingly distribute content without permission from its copyright holders, except as allowed by a public copyright license or under the principles of fair use. If you believe that your work has been submitted to the Animal People Forum without your permission, please contact info@animalpeopleforum.org